Process of making metal articles



Patented Jan. 19, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OWEN E. HACKER, OF DAYTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-THIRD TO ROBERT H. ANGELL AND ONE-THIRD TO BENJAMIN F. DUER, BOTH OF DAYTON, OHIO.

PROCESS OF MAKING METAL ARTICLES.

No Drawing.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, OWEN E. HACKER, a citizenof the United States, residing at Dayton, in the county of Montgomeryand State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Making Metal Articles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the art of ornamentation, and more particularly to the production of metallic articles in bas relief and in intaglio designs, and more particu larly to a process of producing such articles as name plates, labels, signs, placards, escutcheons, hollow-ware and other like articles by metallic deposition. The object of the invention is to simplify the means and mode operation of producing embossed metallic articlesof ornamental character, whereby they will not only be 'cheapened in construction, but will be capable of production without. the use of expensive dies or skillfully sculptured designs, modeling or relief designing, and which will enable the production of intricate bas relief and intaglio design, from an original flat inked drawing, such as a pen drawing or design. I

A further object of the invention is to provide a process by which such metallic articles may be reproduced from an original bas relief or intaglio design as well as from a flat drawing.

The use of thin sheet metal for ornamental labels for merchandise commodities such as perfume and cosmetics designs for holiday cards, counter signs and manufacturers name plates, such as are applied to electric 1 motors, machinery vehicles, etc., have beperformed by stamping or pressing come quite common. The customary method of manufacturing such thin sheet metal design in bas relief or in intaglio formation as the case may be, has customarily been processes, by a punch and die operation. The manufacture of the coacting dies or forming tools for such purposesis not only very expensive, tedious and laborous, but it also re- 1 quiresvery high skill upon the part of the die maker to effect the proper uniformity and degree of relief. Furthermore, such dies are subjected to wear and constant deterioration While in use, whereby intricate designs containing hair lines or other line markings do not afford uniformly regular Application filed March 8, 1921. Serial No. 450,706.

reproductions after a more or less extended use.

The present process is intended to overcome the objections to the present punch and die method, and enable such ornamental metallic articles to be produced by persons of only moderate skill or those comparative ly unskilled in'the metal working art, while at the same time materially reducing the cost of production by obviating entirely the use of expensive dies.

lVith the above primary and other incidental objects in view as will more fully appear -1n the specification, the invention consists of the steps and operation and the combinations thereof, or their equivalents as hereinafter described and set forth in the claims.

The usual and preferred but notthe onlv method of carrying out this process, corisists in first, making a line drawing of the design to be produced, preferably by means of india ink upon white card-board. However, the design may be made in any other suitable manner, or by using other colors suitable for reproduction by photographic process.

The fiat drawing or design is then photographed and a zinc etching made by the well known photo-engraving process, with this difference, however, that the photographic negative is not stripped and reversed during the operation, and before printing the design upon the zinc or other metallic plate preparatory to the etching operation. Thus instead of producing a negative or reversed etched plate of the design, the has relief design produced by this photo graving or etching operation is a positive or exact duplication of the original drawing or design. This plate or bas relief design which, however, is a positive and hence a reversal or opposite of the usual die or matrix is then employed as a master form, from which a succession of impressions may be made in a body of wax, papier-mch, or other suitable plastic material. The impression taking 1 material is preferably, though not necessarily supported upon a rigid base plate or other support in order that the impression may not become distorted, during the succeeding operation. Such base plate or support is coated with a sheet or coating of the wax or impression taking material, of somewhat greater depth than the maximum relief of the design to be reproduced. Thus the master design when pressed into such plastic impression making material will not penetrate thru the plastic body, but will leave therein an impression in exact replica of the master design. Preferably before making such impression, the surface of the impression making material whether of wax, papier-mach, or other suitable substance is coated with graphite or other electro-conduetive material. After the impression has been made or preferably a succession of impressions, in the sheet of plastic substance, the interior of such impressions are like-wise coated with graphite or similar electro-cond ctive material, to facilitate the deposit of metal and the subsequent stripping of the finished product as hereinafter described.

The impressions of the master design may be produced in the impression taking material by hand pressure, but is preferably accomplished by a suitable press, such as a screw press, hydraulic press, or other means. For maximum duplication, of the impressions, when such articles are being manufactured in considerable quantities, these matrices or impressions are successively produced in the plastic impression taking material, by passing the sheets of same beneath a punch press or power press upon the plunger of which the master design is carried, the impression taking sheet being advanced between successive reciprocations of the plunger. For the best impression in wax or like material the master design or relief plate should be applied with a slow uniform, but forcible pressure, and should be equally slowly withdrawn, rather than by quick sharp impact. The application of slow but uniform and heavy pressure and equally slow withdrawal of the master design affords ample time for the displacement of the plastic material and tends to avoid the breaking down of the edges and fine line projections.

One or more impressions having been made in the body of plastic impression taking material, and the impression or matrix having been brushed or coated with an electro-conductive material, such as graplr ite, the coated impression is then electroplated by being suspended in a tank or vat of electrolyte in the presence of copper brass nickle or other metal, employed as the anode, while the coated wax or other matrix formed in plastic material is employed as the cathode, the electric current being passed from one to the other, whereby the metal of the anode is deposited by electrolytic action within the matrix or impression to reproduce the original design therein in sheet metal deposit, wherein the lines of the original drawing will be reproduced in relief or embossed, such embossed metallic body heing an exact copy of the original fiat drawing.

When the metallic deposit has been made of sulficient thickness depending somewhat upon the use to which the article is to be applied, as well as the character of the metal, it is removed from the plating solution, and stripped from the matrix or mold. This is easily done by applying hot water to a wax mold or otherwise disintegrating the mold of plastic material. However, in many instances, the reproduction may be stripped from the mold without the use of heat or without dissolving the matrix. This stripping action will depend upon the character of the plastic impression receiving material.

The metallic reproduction when removed from the matrix may be trimmed, oxidized, or otherwise finished, lacquered, or treated by any of the well known processes by which metal is either colored, polished or otherwise finished. The completed product may be mounted in any suitable manner, either upon a supporting card or directly upon a package container or other article.

While the process as heretofore described is particularly adapted for reproducing embossed articles from flat line drawings, photographically, the imprinting and subsequent electro-plating operation may be applied to the reproduction of articles or designs originally made in has relief. Such reproductions may be made from plaster casts, etchings, steel dies, sculptured designs, carving and other like devices, originally produced in has relief. For instance, a has relief design may be made by building up the lines of a drawing by depositing thereon a paste like mixture of glue and whiting, white lead, oxide of zinc wax or any other plastic material which may be molded into shape and subsequently hardened. For instance a drawing may be made embodying human face or figure, flowers, trees or geometrical designs, the lines and surfaces of the designs being subsequently raised by the deposit of a plastic subsequently hardening material. The lines of the design may be built up and modeled into a has relief design, the relief of which will vary thruout. In lieu of building up such design, plaster casts may be made of various articles, which casts like the built up design before mentioned may be subsequently employed as master designs. In carrying out such variation of the process the plastic cast, built up has relief design, etching, die or other form is applied to the plastic impression making material to afford therein a duplicate impression. The impression is thus taken directly from the article to be reproduced. The impression thus taken is coated with electro-condu'c'tive material and electro-plated as before described. The original bas relief design whether carving, sculpture, plaster cast or other article is then duplicated in the metallic deposit without the necessity of photographing the original design and making a photo-engraving or zinc etching thereof. It is to be understood that the reproduction will be a positive or exact copy of the original and not a reversal or negative thereof.

Not only metallic articles having designs in has reliefor intaglio design may be made from line drawings as before described but such ornamental objects in .metal may be produced from wash drawings, wherein the contour or relief of the design or article is represented by variations of shading or different tints, or such ornamental design may be reproduced from photographs of natural objects, portraits of persons, or scenes of nature. Photographs made from wash drawings, objects of nature, etc., may be produced in photographic prints in relief by hand work or embossing from the back of such print, while damp, to produce a master design which may be backed up by plaster, wax or other plastic self hardening material, from which the impressions are subsequently made preparatory to the electro-plating operation. In lieu of making such reproductions from a hand embossed photo-graphic print, a print may be made from the photographic negative of the portrait, art design or scenic view upon a thick film or layer of gelatine sensitized with an actinic agent, such as potassium bichromate. The bichromated gelatine after being printed or subjected to light thru the previously prepared photographic negative, is subjected to moisture or saturated with water, causing it to swell ununiformly in accordance with the photographic reproduction printed thereon, and a plastic cast is taken from the swollen bichromated gelatinefilm upon which the photographic design appears in has relief. From such plastic cast a positive cast can then be prepared, or by brushing or coating such plaster east with the electro-conductive material and subjecting it to the electroplating process a master plate can be produced, which may be used for duplication by taking numerous impressions therefrom to be subsequently ele'ctro-plated, or in the event that only one reproduction is required, such single device may be made by electroplating'the plaster east.

From the above description it will be apparent that there is thus provided a device of the character described possessing the particular features of advantage before enumerated as desirable, but which obviously is susceptible of modifications in its form, proportions, detail construction and arrangement of parts without departing from the principle involved or sacrificing any of its advantages.

lVhile in order to comply with the statute the invention has been described in language more or less specific as to structural features, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific details shown, but that the means and construction herein disclosed comprise but one of several modes of putting the invention into effect, and the invention is therefore claimed in any of its forms or modifications within the legitimate and valid scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention I claim:

' 1. The herein described process of producing embossed metallic ornamental plates, comprising photographing the design to be reproduced, transferring the photographic production to a metallic plate without stripping and without reversal whereby the transferred design will be a positive of the design, etching the plate to produce the design in has-relief, taking an impression therefrom, rendering the impression electroconductive, employing the impression as the cathode in an electro-plating bath to effect the deposit of metal within such impression and separating the deposited metallic bod and impression material to expose the face of the deposited article.

2. The hereindesc-ribed process of producing embossed metallic ornamental plates, comprising photographing a design and making a zinc etching therefrom without stripping and without reversing the photographic negative whereby a positive plate in has relief is formed, and forming a positive electro-deposited metallic body from an impress therefrom.

I11 testimony whereof, I. have hereunto set myhand this 5th day of March A. D. 1921.

OWEN E. HACKER. 

